Flower of the sea
by AdiosAmigos
Summary: Camellia is the daughter of well to do merchant sailor and is the sister of three older brothers. Doomed to a life she doesn't want, she grabs at every chance to change her fate till one day it seems her prays have been answered... *honeslty I don't know where this is going but the crew will come in to play soon*


There were a few things that Camellia was sure of. One, she had always been vastly fascinated by the ocean, drawn to it even. Second, she would be cursed to a life of early marriage and childbirth and thirdly, that she was never going to let the second thing happen.

Camellia bit into the sour green apple with too much force and bit her tongue , she yelled in pain and spat out chunks of apple and blood. "Fucking hell!"

A sailor passing by stared at her in amusement "you've got quite a mouth, lass"

She glared at him "I've got more than that you hob knocker" Much to her dismay he just laughed and continued down the dock. "Damn it all" she muttered and tossed the rest of the apple into the sea.

"Lia!" Her father said in astonishment as he came up behind her. "How do you ever expect to find a man with such a bitter personality!" His Scottish accent was thick, and his breath smelled of rum. "God knows that you're looks aren't going to land you a decent man"

Camellia snorted "I've told you a million times already, I don't want to marry!" Her own accent a bit lighter than her fathers.

Artiar put a firm hand on her shoulder "I will not have my only daughter become a spinster" his cheeks redding with irritation or embarrassment "God forbid you become a weathered old maid! Who in gods name will take care of you?"

Camellia scowled "Might I mention that I'm only twelve years old? And I can take care of myself! I've been doing it for the last eight years anyways"

Her fathers expression softened and she could see him visibly deflate and she knew she had crossed a line. "Father, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that"

He shook his head "No, Lia I should be sorry. I should have remarried after Amelia died, it wasn't fair for you to grow up without a mother in yer life."

"That's not entirely true" Camellia said "don't you remember Miss Belldame?" her father laughed "you mean our old scullery maid?!"

"Well yes, she was the one who was always lecturing me about being a proper young lady, wasn't she?"

He looked at her in amusement "aye, but but that didn't sway you from playing in the mud with yer brothers now did it?"

Laughing, Lia lightly punched her father on the shoulder "course not! And you encouraged it, telling me fairy tales about goblins and mermaids since I was babe."

"They weren't fairy tails, I've seen sirens with my own eyes, and I've made deals with the fairy folk and brownies that roam the forests of these lands"

Camellia rolled her eyes "I know, I've heard all your tails a hundred times."

"Good!" Her father said, absolutely beaming "that means you'll be able to pass 'em on to your children"

Camellia turned her head away, feigning interest in a handsome young sailor loading cargo onto a boat. "Of course, father." She tried to keep the guilt out of her voice. In all honesty she had no interest in starting a family or getting married, especially cooking and cleaning day in and day out. The thought of what awaited her made her nauseous.

"Well, I've been standing around long enough, I've got to get back to work, and you need to get back to the house in time for cooking lessons."

She sighed "yes, father." He patted her on the shoulder and made his way back to shore.

Camellia stood on the edge of the dock, staring out into sea with an air of melancholy. She could feel the urge to jump into the water consuming her, she thought back to the feel of water rushing through her fingers and the sounds of the ocean it made as you swam as deep as you could go, even the feeling of seaweed against her body. She loved swimming though beds of seaweed and messing with the extremely territorial crabs that scurried around the warm waters of the port. She almost laughed as she recalled an encounter with a very confused octopus that had gotten itself tangled up in a crab trap. Camellia had tried her best to keep the poor thing calm, but there was a large could of ink in the end nonetheless.

"Miss Lia!" She jumped as she was violently jerked out her day dream by a familiar voice. "Oh, afternoon Mr. Wesley, how's the fishing going?"

"it's 'aright, I've got a favour to ask of you though."

"Your men are still losing all your fishing supplies and crab traps, huh?" She asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Aye, they're completely hopeless as usual" Mr Wesley wiped his forehead on the sleeve of his grimy shirt "So what do you say? If you go save my equipment I'll treat you to all the pastries you can eat."

"While that is tempting," camellia began "The maid would have my head if I missed another one of her retched cooking lessons, but she would have to forgive me if it was for a noble cause." She looked at John expectedly while he began to give a full bellied laugh.

"Of course my dear, If you help me I'll get you out of cooking with that dreadful woman, and my previous offer still stands."

"And I get to keep whatever I find under the dock?"

"Aye, of course you do"

"Great, we've got a deal!" Camellia shook his hand triumphantly and slid off her shoes and dressed down into her shift. After taking a deep breath, Camellia dove gracefully into the sea…


End file.
